Getting StartedWith Alice

Why Learn about Programming computers.

• Learning to program a computer does not turn you into a nerd

• We will use Alice which makes it possible to write programs in a totally different way than ever before

• The applications of computers are becoming so pervasive in our society that if you were born tomorrow you might be interacting with a computer from your first day to your last

Learn to Program

Some of the reasons

• computer advances in medical research

• computer controlled airbags and brakes in our car

• computer modelling that allows us to design new drugs to fight different diseases

About the entertainment industry

• Computers and the software that computer programmers write for them have revolutionized the entertainment industry

• Computer gaming is very popular

Other things computers allow us to do

• Computers help us communicate with each other by maintaining complex cellular telephone networks

• Allow us to explore space

Computer programming course

• One course in computer programming can be useful as a way of learning a new way to think

• Learning to think in new ways is always extremely value

• Computer programming is a pure, distilled form of problem solving

• So learning to program a computer will truly help you learn a new way to think – enabling you to find answers to questions and figure out how to make things work.

A new Approach to programming

The old way

• Add up a bunch of numbers

• Print out the sum and average

The New Way with Alice

• Alice lets you be the director of a movie, or the creator of a video game, where 3D objects in an on-screen virtual world move around according to the directions you give them

• You use move forward or turn right

• Mistakes are easy(visually easy) to correct

Being a computer programmer using Alice

• Like being a movie director

• A choreographer

• A puppeteer

• Anyone who gives people instructions about what to do in a precise but limited vocabulary

After you Learned how to use Alice

• You understand the fundamental ideas involved in programming

• Be able to use Java or C++

Basics of Computer Programming

Computer Program

• Sequence of instructions that tell a computer what to do

• It is also a sequence of instructions that tells another human being what to do

• Learning how to program is actually learning how to think about arranging a sequence of instructions to carry out a task

All computer programs are made from very simple ideas

• A list of instructions – like following a recipe- sequential processing

• If – if it is raining take an umbrella – conditional execution

• Repeating behavior – bounce a ball 5 times – looping or iteration

• Breaking things into smaller pieces – problem decomposition, step-wise refinement, top down design or reductionism – break a complex task into a list of simpler tasks

• Ask a question so as to find an answer – calling a function

Computer Programs

• Most computers understand only about 100 different instructions

• The millions of programs that run on computers use these same 100 instructions in different orders and combinations

• Learning how to think about arranging a sequence of instructions to carry out a task(how to design a program) is probably the most valuable part of learning to program

Alice Concept

Concept 1 : Virtual World

• A flight simulator, a video game implemented in 3D is called a virtual world

• Using a virtual world lends a sense of reality to the simulator and increases its effectiveness

• The virtual world has width, height and depth

Concept 2 : Objects and 3D models

• Alice contains many 3D models already developed

• Includes a gallery of 3D models

• Not a 3D graphics drawing program – uses 3D graphic models to develop programs

Concept 3 : Three dimensions and six directions• Objects in Alice world are 3D

• Each object has a width, height and depth

• Object has 6 possible directions it can move in (up, down, left, right, forward, back)

Concept 4 : Center of an Object

• Center point is set by the graphic artist when the 3D model is first created

• Center point provides a reference for a pivot or spin type of movement

• Person has center point between feet on the ground

Concept 5 : Distance

• Objects distance to another is measured from its center

Concept 6 : Position

• The center of an object is the point used as its position in a world

• Center of the ground is located at (0,0 and 0)

• Like the ground, any object in the world is located relative to the center of the world

Concept 7 : Animation

• In Alice, you will build virtual worlds and create animations by moving the objects in a world the same way that objects are moved in a flight simulator or a video game.

• Use many of the same techniques to give the illusion of motion as are used by animators to create animated cartoons for film studios such as Disney and Pixar

Concept 8 : Animation 2

• Animation is an illusion

• The illusion is the scene is drawn with objects, and then redrawn with the objects positioned in a slightly different place

• Alice takes care of all the computer graphic work to create the sequence of frames

• Alice renders the animation

Tips and Techiques 1

• 3D text – changing text

• Graphics Images – Billboards

Summary Chapter 1

• Computer program presented as a sequence of instructions that tell the computer what to do

• Importantly, a computer program is also a way to tell another human being what you want the computer to do

• Learning to think about arranging a sequence of instructions to carry out a task (how to design a program) is probably the most important part of learning to program

• Alice is a 3D animation software tool that can be used to learn how to design and write computer programs

• Alice allows you to quickly design create cartoon-like animations of objects in a 3D virtual world

Summary Chapter 1 - Continued

• The objects are 3D – have width, height and depth

• Each object has a sense of direction – it knows which way is up, down, left, right, forward and backward relative to itself